Ultimate Comics: Fallout #5Review

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Quicksilver and Nick Fury plan for the coming wars.

By Jesse Schedeen

There's very little cohesion to the tales in Ultimate Fallout now that the series has moved past Peter Parker's funeral. The two tales in issue #5 share at least a vague thematic tie, as they feature Quicksilver and Nick Fury each preparing for the uncertain futures ahead of them. More notably, the fact that this issue features only two segments means each is allowed more breathing space.

Nick Spencer tackles Quicksilver as the mutant terrorist-turned-superhero-turned-outlaw strikes a bargain with some powerful businessmen. Spencer writes Pietro as a character with murky loyalties and a very dangerous edge. He shows every sign of being a worthy adversary to the new team of X-Men. And for better or for worse, Spencer looks to be tackling Pietro's creepy, incestuous relationship with his sister. Let's go for less Ultimates 3 and more Ultimates 2 this time, okay? Luke Ross art here is decent and wisely focused on facial work and character dynamics, though the coloring tends to overpower the figure work in many panels.

Elsewhere, Jonathan Hickman tackles the once and future director of SHIELD. This segment looks to set the general tone for both The Ultimates and Ultimate Hawkeye, as Fury faces an increasingly dangerous list of geopolitical threats with a dwindling list of assets. Hickman writes a more vulnerable Fury than we've seen in the Ultimate U, and proves along the way that he can write a more straightforward action/espionage tale without the heady, introspective flair of the earlier Iron Man segment or much of his non-Ultimate work. Not that this approach is a bad thing, but Fury and Hawkeye aren't the right characters for that sort of treatment. Billy Tan's art is a bit stiff but otherwise well-suited to the more grounded tone of Fury's world.